1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a machining tool for use with a cutter body. The machining tool includes a cartridge having a recessed area to which an anvil is rotatably affixed. The anvil includes a recessed area into which a cutting insert is affixed. Such a cutting insert is of the type commonly made of a cemented metal carbide such as tungsten carbide which is formed by pressing techniques and sintered. The machining tool also includes means for causing a surface of the anvil to slide upon a corresponding surface of the cartridge to rotate the anvil and cutting insert affixed thereto relative to the cartridge about a common axis.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In modern day machining operations higher and higher speeds are achieved. At whatever levels, however, each application must be evaluated in terms of a wide range of variables, and of the potential safety hazards that are involved. This is particularly true with respect to high speed applications. In developing machining equipment it is desirable to improve feed rates and part surface finish in the same cut without creating safety hazards. When using modular milling equipment which include the use of cartridges which are coupled to a cutter body it is desirable that such improvements be accomplished by providing a cartridge which is economical to manufacture, easy to use, and which will accommodate existing cutting inserts. To achieve the desired finish and feed rate in the same cut it has been found necessary to qualify the manufacturing tolerances of the cutting insert and cartridge to which it is affixed. Without being bound by a theory of operation it is believed that this is so because the cutter "disk" is critical to the surface finish, cutter "disk" being a term used in the art of machining meaning the degree of deviation from strict parallelism between the front face of the cutter and the face of the workpiece. In addition, the stacking up of manufacturing tolerances between cutter body, cartridge body and insert serve to present problems difficult, if possible at all, to overcome using a fixed-pocket design. The feasible use of a fixed-pocket design is further diminished due to the inability to predict exactly what degree of disk will best serve each machining application. It is desirable to also overcome these problems by providing an improved adjustable cartridge.
Machining tools having adjustable features are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,282 to Pataky describes a machining tool including a holder and insert to which a cutting tool can be attached. The insert is rotatably mounted in a recess in the holder and fixed in a desired position relative to the holder by a locking screw. Rotatable adjustment of the insert allows for the altering of the tip working angle. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,994 to Jester et al a linearly and angularly adjustable holder for a cutting tool is provided. Such tool permits pivotal adjustment by means of an adjustment screw having a threaded portion seated in a basic element and a head which engages a recess in a rotatably mounted receptable element which holds a cutting tool insert. Rotation of the adjustment screw causes rotation of the receptacle element. However, the structure described in these patents is not directed to the significance of the cutter disk as described herein. For example, the cutter disk has a significant effect on the quality of the surface of the workpiece because the depth of the scallops which are produced during the cutting operation is determined by the cutter disk. Although zero disk would provide an ideal surface finish, such factors as tool wear, scraping, characteristics of the workpiece material, and the machine tool itself make it impossible to achieve zero rms. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an adjustable cartridge which approaches a zero disk to the extent possible. By providing an adjustable cartridge which allows the insert face to be close to parallelism with the workpiece face the desired finish can be achieved. It is also desirable to provide disk adjustment in combination with radial and axial adjustment to obtain optimum tracking. It is further desirable to provide an adjustable cartridge which is properly balanced particularly in high spaced operations. None of the prior art deals with these considerations.